Petra Lindemann-Matthies

Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe · Department of Biology

In the face of climate change and other environmental issues, all relevant stakeholders, including members of civil society, should participate in the transformation towards a sustainable future. The project ‘Simply make a change’ engaged citizens (n = 101), with the help of an entirely voluntary and individual commitment approach, in a sustainable...

This study asked 241 primary children and their 13 teachers in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, to identify 136 local plant and animal species, which were shown to them as pictures. Children's age, gender, and experiences with nature were recorded to test for associations with species knowledge. Teachers identified 52% of the plants and 61% of the...

School gardens can be places of biodiversity and suitable learning environments for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In particular, vegetable patches where students can make their own experiences in food growing are very apt to connect local acting and global thinking, which is one of the main concerns of ESD. Working in a school garden...

This study investigated with the help of in-depth interviews and a think-aloud-approach how 10-to12-year-old children (n = 46) in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, get to know species, how they identify plants and animals, and for how important they consider species knowledge to be. Own observations and sensual experiences coupled with positive emo...

Society’s development toward more sustainable lifestyles can only succeed if changes are also performed at the individual level. We, therefore investigated whether the participation of teenagers (14–19 years old) in a collective public commitment and accompanying workshop on plastic consumption strengthened their willingness and ability to take act...

There is increasing evidence for the restorative and stress-reducing benefits of natural window views and indoor vegetation. However, few studies have investigated associations between the naturalness of window and interior classroom views and students’ well-being and performance in primary schools. The present cross-sectional study investigated as...

Gardens can support wild bees in otherwise resource-poor environments if they provide suitable food plants and nesting sites. Public attitudes towards planting for pollinators are currently not well understood and little information is available about what laypersons know about bee-friendly plants. The present study aimed to fill this knowledge gap...

The definition of biodiversity stated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 was conceived as occurring on three different organizational levels: genetic, species, and ecosystems. However, current understanding of biodiversity includes other components, such as the number, abundance, composition, and spatial distribution of species...

This study investigated the perception of 13 invasive alien animal species (IAAS) by 220 teacher students and their attitudes towards species management, either with or without prior information about the IAAS presented. In a first questionnaire, the IAAS (eight vertebrates, five invertebrates) were presented as photographs and their invasive statu...

Fruit and vegetable consumption plays an important role in a healthy diet to prevent nutritional diseases. Nutritionists therefore recommend the intake of five portions of mixed fruit and vegetables a day, excluding potatoes and including only one portion of fruit juice. Research suggests that children’s daily intake of vegetables is lower than rec...

For many children today, the easiest available outdoor environment is their school ground. However, school grounds shaped by adult priorities for neatness, simplicity of maintenance, safety, the demands of team sports, and the surveillance and behavior management of children are often devoid of biodiversity. We investigated elementary and secondary...

Natural sceneries or single plants may have positive influences on human health. Here we show that plant species richness can positively influence recovery from stress. Meadow-like arrays of different species richness (1, 16, 32, 64 species) were presented to visitors (n = 171) of a popular park in Zurich, Switzerland (one array per participant). P...

This study investigates whether parents consider themselves vital in transmitting species knowledge to their children, whether children’s familiarity with species is actually related to that of their parents, and whether socio-demographic variables influence this relationship. Data were collected with the help of a picture test and a questionnaire....

This study investigates how well prepared student teachers are to implement species identification in school. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and a PowerPoint presentation in which local plant and animal species were presented. Participants (n = 357) correctly identified, on average, 23% of the plants and 44% of the animals. Th...

This study investigates with the help of a manipulative experiment how people with different nationalities perceive meadow-like arrays of different species richness (1, 8, 16, 32, 64 species). Participants (n = 187) were all residents of the canton of Zurich and originated from 43 different countries. Overall valuation of the meadow-like arrays inc...

This research is based on the rationale that the well-defined framework of education for sustainable development (ESD), its connection with real life and its specific integration in the educational policies and curricula can help to enhance quality education (QE) in a meaningful and identifiable way. In a first step, the common ground of ESD and QE...

We tested in two corresponding studies the hypothesis that urban gardening is of visual aesthetic value to the public. With the help of photo-realistic visualizations and a written questionnaire, 109 students and employees of the Karlsruhe University of Education (study 1) and 200 passers-by in the city of Karlsruhe (study 2) were asked about their...

This study investigated laypersons' perception of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) and attitudes towards their management with the help of a written questionnaire in the cities of Zurich, Geneva, and Lugano, Switzerland. Survey participants (n = 720) judged attractiveness from certain species on visual contact (eight IAPS were shown as photograp...

Environmental education in Kosovo is currently under reform. The new strategy for sustainable development demands a strong focus on education for sustainability in schools. However, a lack of teacher education might impede new approaches in the classroom. This study investigated how teachers in Kosovo approach locally-relevant environmental issues...

This study investigated people’s perceptions and knowledge of toads and frogs in three areas of Southeast China: rural Gutian Shan, semi-rural Xin Gan Shan, and the city of Quzhou. In 2010, 672 randomly selected laypersons (between eight and 80 years old) were interviewed with the help of a standardized questionnaire and a picture test. Study parti...

People's response to the decline of biodiversity and their support for conservation measures depends on their knowledge of biodiversity and their attitudes to local species. This study is one of the first to investigate public knowledge of, and attitudes to, frogs in South America. We chose two study regions, the semi-urban region of Pensilvania an...

The amenity function of landscapes is of growing importance in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union as well as in the reformed direct payment system of Swiss agricultural policy. This is reflected in a growing amount of direct payments for landscape stewardship, which enhances the need for landscape quality assessments. A good...

The integration of education for sustainable development (ESD) into all levels of education is a key priority in Kosovo's environmental action plan. However, at present it is not even known how environmental education (EE) is integrated in the country's educational system. With the help of a written questionnaire and in-depth interviews with 18 tea...

„Nature makes us feel good“. Mit diesem Satz postulierte der US-amerikanische Biologe E.O. Wilson, dass die Natur das Wohlbefinden des Menschen positiv beeinflusst. Menschen brauchen ausreichenden Kontakt mit der Natur, um gesund zu bleiben, den Sinn ihres Lebens zu finden und sich zu verwirklichen. In diesem Beitrag wird anhand ausgewählter Beispi...

Private gardens can incorporate a diversity of habitats for wild species and also provide a valuable network for meta-populations. Recently, attempts have been made to promote garden practices that increase native biodiversity and structural heterogeneity relevant to plants and animals. However, little is known about whether such practices contribu...

Aims: Despite the current interest in services provided by ecosystems and the role of biodiversity, the relationship among human attitudes, biodiversity and ecosystem services has hardly been investigated. Moreover, few studies have examined attitudes toward nature in cross-cultural comparisons. This study investigates the attitudes of Chinese and...

Arid and semiarid ecosystems of Mendoza and San Juan are currently undergoing severe degradation with the subsequent loss of biodiversity. In this scenario, diffusion and education about native biodiversity and its value are indispensable to the purposes of conservation. The present work reviews three previous studies conducted in the provinces of...

This study investigated the impact of a one-day conservation education workshop on knowledge about and attitudes towards species of 88 students from Valle Fértil, Argentina. Immediately before and after the workshop and one year later, students (aged 12 to 16) had to identify native and introduced exotic plant and animal species as well as artifici...

Um die Kenntnisse lokaler Wildpflanzen und-tiere der Schülerinnen und Schülern ist es schlecht bestellt. Naturnah gestaltete Schulgelände und Schulgärten könnten Wahrnehmung und Wertschätzung biologischer Vielfalt positiv beeinflussen. Die Bereitstellung «biodiversitätsfreundlicher" Lernumgebungen ist zusammen mit entsprechend ausgebildeten Lehrkrä...

This study investigates how familiarity and initial contact with species can be explained by social- demographic variables in an arid environment of Argentina. Our main objectives were to investigate which species children are familiar with, and analyse the effect of place of residence, sex and age on students’ knowledge and initial contact with sp...

This study investigated elementary school children's (n = 171) litter behavior during guided forest tours following two different treatments. Four classes received a verbal appeal not to litter in the forest, while another four classes received both a verbal appeal and a demonstration of the desired litter behavior (picking up litter, putting it in...

__________________________________________________________________________ Zusammenfassung Welche Vorstellungen haben Schülerinnen und Schüler vom Lebenszyklus der Samen-pflanzen? In Anlehnung an die "Mental Models" nach Vosniadou und Brewer (1994) wer-den in diesem Beitrag die Ergebnisse einer Vorstudie präsentiert. Schülerinnen und Schüler der 5....

This multinational research study was carried out between 2004 and 2006 in four teacher education institutions in Cyprus, England, Switzerland, and Germany. With the help of a written questionnaire, the confidence and perceived competence of preservice primary teachers (N = 690) to deliver biodiversity education in school were investigated. Data we...

The use of genetically modified plants in agriculture (GM crops) is controversially discussed in academic publications. Important issues are whether the release of GM crops is beneficial or harmful for the environment and therefore acceptable, and whether the modification of plants is ethically permissible per se. This study provides a comprehensiv...

In 2009, all official schoolbooks and national curri-cula in Kosovo were scrutinized. It was investigated how many and which environmental topics they included, in which subjects and grades they were taught, and which teaching approaches were used. Only 13 out of 130 books, most of them for biology teaching, included environmen-tal topics. Environm...

Beyond its traditional function of food production, agricultural land offers public amenities such as the protection of natural resources and landscape scenery. This study investigates the preferences of non-farmers and farmers for nine landscape scenarios in the Swiss lowlands. The nine landscapes were the result of a photo editing process combini...

This article investigates benefits and challenges of forest education in view of 257 Swiss elementary school teachers (1st–3rd grade), by means of a written questionnaire and 15 in-depth interviews. Two thirds of the teachers carried out forest education during normal lesson hours (mean visits = eight per year). Forests were clearly considered as a...

To counter the loss of agro-biodiversity, Swiss farmers can qualify for area-related direct payments by managing part of their utilized land (at least 7%) as so-called ecological compensation areas (ECAs). However, little is know how changing farming practices influence the scenic beauty of a landscape in view of the public. Such knowledge is espec...

In summer 2007, with the help of a written questionnaire, the attitudes of more than 400 visitors to the zoological garden of Zurich, Switzerland, toward the idea of feeding live insects to lizards, live fish to otters, and live rabbits to tigers were investigated. The majority of Swiss zoo visitors agreed with the idea of feeding live prey (invert...

Exotic species seriously affect local biodiversity in Argentina. This article investigates how students in San Juan province perceive native and exotic species. With the help of a written questionnaire, 865 students (9–17 years old) were asked to name the plant and animal they liked most, disliked most, and perceived as most useful, and to name loc...

The conservation of biodiversity critically depends on the value that humans attach to it. Apart from an ecological and economic value, an aesthetic value has often been assigned to biodiversity. However, it is not known whether lay people appreciate the diversity of species and not just certain individual species or nature as a whole. We studied i...

Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich The protection and conservation of biodiversity is considered to be one of the most urgent environmental issues globally. This problem cannot be addressed effectively without the participation and support of society at large. The success of conservation measures will depend on people’...

Publiziert in Umweltbildung.ch Regelmässige Aufenthalte in der Natur während der Kindheit sind essenziell für ein späteres Interesse an der Umwelt und eine Bereitschaft, diese zu schützen. Da Kinder in ihrer Freizeit jedoch immer weniger Zeit draussen verbringen, entstand das Konzept des Waldunterrichts. Dabei entdecken und erforschen Kinder aktiv...

Arable land in Switzerland harbours low biodiversity and lacks permanent species-rich structures. To remedy this situation,improved field margins(IFMs)will be introduced as a new ecological compensation type in the Swiss Lowlands. IFMs are extensively managed, sown species- and flower-rich vegetation strips which provide both habitats for a wide ra...

In this article, we present results from an international research study on biodiversity education in pre-service education of primary school teachers. The study was carried out between 2004–2006 in four teacher education institutions in Cyprus, England, Switzerland and Germany. We used document analyses and indepth interviews with 27 teacher educa...

This paper presents the results of 20 in-depth interviews with local stakeholders (university professors, ministry employees, NGO members and politicians) and a questionnaire study with 492 randomly selected laypersons (all adults) in Kosovo on their perception and knowledge of environmental issues, in particular biodiversity. Most often study part...

This paper presents the results of interviews and a questionnaire study on public knowledge of the concept of biodiversity and of plant species richness in Switzerland. Despite its extensive use in science and policy making, the concept of biodiversity is not widely recognized or known to people in Switzerland. Overall, 60% of all study participant...

Im internationalen Forschungsprojekt BIOPAEDIA (Biodiversity as a value and concept in education: initial training and professional readiness of primary teacher students) wurde untersucht, wie stark das Thema biologische Vielfalt in die Ausbildung von Primarschullehrkräften integriert ist und wie qualifiziert zukünftige Lehrkräfte sind, das Thema i...

Biodiversity is an increasingly important criterion in designing ecological compensation areas and urban green areas. However, little is known about how important biodiversity is to the general public. This paper presents the results of two complementary studies investigating the meadow preferences of visitors to a botanical garden in Switzerland....

Teaching Ecology Newsletter (British Ecological Society), 34, 10-12 Abstract: In a large research project we investigated the importance given to biodiversity in the preservice teacher training of primary school teachers, and the teacher students’ self-efficacy to teach biodiversity.

In der vorliegenden Studie haben wir uns mit der Frage beschäftigt, ob Lernerfolg, Multimedianutzung und der Lernstiltyp nach Kolb (1984) im Distance-Learning-Kurs VIRT.UM, der online angeboten wird, zusammenhängen. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass Studierende beim Arbeiten mit VIRT.UM zwar selektiv unter den ihnen angebotenen Multimediatypen auswäh...

In der vorliegenden Studie haben wir uns mit der Frage beschäftigt, ob Lernerfolg, Multimedianutzung und der Lernstiltyp nach Kolb (1984) im Distance- Learning-Kurs VIRT.UM, der online angeboten wird, zusammenhängen. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass Studierende beim Arbeiten mit VIRT.UM zwar selektiv unter den ihnen angebotenen Multimediatypen auswä...

In this study, the responses of teachers and their pupils to the educational programme "Nature on the Way to School" were investigated with the help of questionnaires. The main objectives of the programme were the promotion of opportunities for children to experience nature first‐hand on the way to school, the promotion of children's awareness of n...

A new but costly approach to providing visitors of zoos with information on conservation is the presentation of small exhibits by zoo professionals or volunteers. At these “touch tables” visitors can find out about the biology, ecology, and conservation of animals kept in the zoo. We studied the effect of a touch table on visitors' learning in a Sw...

This study investigated which plants and animals Swiss children found most attractive and evaluated the effect of an educational programme on children's preferences for species. More than 4000 pupils (8–16 years old) from 248 classes participated in the study. Possible effects of the programme were studied with the help of questionnaires using a pr...

Universelle 7 - Beiträge zur Gleichstellung. Zürich: Uni-Frauenstelle Abstract Peer-Mentoring in eigener Regie meint das selbstorganisierte Ratgeben und gegenseitige Unterstützen von Peers in der akademischen Gemeinschaft. Dabei tauschen sich Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen untereinander über Anforderungen an eine akademische Laufbahn und ihre eigen...

Wer wünscht nicht, dass unsere Kinder sich optimal entwickeln? Wahrnehmung und Bewegung spielen dabei eine Schlüsselrolle. Frühe Defizite in diesen Bereichen haben für die nachfolgende Entwicklung gravierende Folgen. Wie können Kinder in ihrer Bewegungs-und Wahrneh mungsfähigkeit gefördert werden? Erstmals wurde im Kanton Zürich dieser Frage mit Ex...

Umweltwissenschaften/Ökologie sind durch ihren hohen Grad an Vernetzung, Inter- und Transdisziplinarität dazu prädestiniert, um umweltrelevantes Wissen mit "neuen Lerntechnologien" (E-Learning; internet-based learning; Multimedia-Unterricht) zu vermitteln. Dieser Beitrag stellt eine Auswahl von solchen Aktivitäten an den Universitäten Basel, Bern u...

VIRT.UM (Virtuelle Umweltwissenschaften)1 ist eine internetbasierte Lernumgebung, die Studierenden die Grundlagen der Umweltwissen- schaften vermitteln soll. VIRT.UM hilft den Studierenden sich auf das obligatorische Eintrittsgespräch vorzubereiten, das Vorbedingung für das Studium der Umweltwissenschaften ist. VIRT.UM integriert Mehrwert- komponen...

VIRT.UM (Virtuelle Umweltwissenschaften)1 ist eine internetbasierte Lernumgebung, die Studierenden die Grundlagen der Umweltwissen- schaften vermitteln soll. VIRT.UM hilft den Studierenden sich auf das obligatorische Eintrittsgespräch vorzubereiten, das Vorbedingung für das Studium der Umweltwissenschaften ist. VIRT.UM integriert Mehrwert- komponen...

Gugerli-Dolder, B., Hüttenmoser, M., Lindemann-Matthies, P., & Ranft, M. (2003). Was Kinder beweglich macht. ph akzente, 10, 38-39 Im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes wurde im Jahr 2002 erstmals eine schriftliche Befragung zur Wahrnehmungs- und Bewegungsförderung in allen Kindergärten des Kantons Zürich durchgeführt. Elf Expertengespräche unterstü...

Petra Lindemann-Matthies (2003). Vielfalt am Schulweg - Biodiversität im Siedlungsraum entdecken. Hotspot, 8, 14 «Ich habe die Flechte kennen gelernt. Am Anfang dachte ich, es seien alles Kaugummis» (Schülerausspruch beim Betrachten einer Steinmauer im Rahmen des Programms «Natur auf dem Schulweg»)

Evaluation of the education programme "school on a farm"

„Haben Sie sich schon einmal über die Weisse Fetthenne, ein kleines, unscheinbares Pflänzchen mit weissen Blüten und dicken Blättern, gewundert, das sich in kleinen Mauerritzen festhalten und dort gedeihen kann? Oder haben Sie sich diesen Frühling über eine Kohlmeise gefreut, die mit Ästchen im Schnabel auf Nestbau ging? Oder einfach über eine pfei...

Ranft, M., Lindemann-Matthies, P., & Nagel, U. (2002). Gute Noten für „Schule auf dem Bauernhof (SchuB)“. infos + akzente, 9, 58-59

Das "Wiesenexperiment"-eine Pilotstudie über das Erkennen von Artenvielfalt durch Studierende The "meadow experiment"-a pilot study on students' perception of biodiversity Petra Lindemann-Matthies Eine schöne Wiese sollte "für mich verschieden farbige Blumen enthalten, so etwa 25 Arten", "farbig, wild und hoch sein und so viele Arten wie möglich en...

In this study, the author investigated the influence of the educational program Nature on the Way to School on children's everyday perception of species. More than 4,000 children (8–16 years old) from 248 classes in Switzerland participated in the study. Possible influences of the program were evaluated with the help of pretest and posttest questio...

This study investigates the everyday-life perception of biodiversity by Swiss children, their preferences for species, and the effect of the educational programme ‘Nature on the way to school’ on these perceptions and preferences. The programme was developed by the Swiss conservation organisation ‘Pro Natura’ as an educational supplement mainly for...

Lindemann-Matthies, P. (1999). Von Löwenzahn und Hahnenfuss. umwelt&bildung, 1, 9-11

Published in Youth and Environment Abstract: In 1995 the "Swiss Society for the Protection of Nature" (SBN) started a new educational programme for kindergartens, primary and secondary schools called "Nature on the way to school". A total of 14 000 children from all over Switzerland participated in this programme. The aim of the programme was the...

Die meisten Schweizer Universitäten haben heute für die Koordination ihrer interdisziplinar-okologischen Lehre und Forschung spezielle Institutionen geschaffen. Die Bandbreite ist groB: Wasan einer Universiäit durch eine Verwaltungseinheit abgedeckt wird, ist anderswo Teil der Aufgaben eines Instituts oder gar eines Departements geworden. Wahrend d...